Space Weather Intelligence for Arctic Defence Operations

Challenge

Reliable positioning, navigation and timing are essential for defence operations in the Arctic, but GNSS performance can be significantly affected by natural space-weather phenomena. Solar activity can disturb the Earth's ionosphere and create GNSS scintillation, causing satellite navigation signals to fluctuate, degrade or temporarily become unreliable. At high latitudes, these effects can be particularly significant. For operators, the challenge is that a degraded GNSS signal can resemble other forms of interference. Understanding whether a disruption is caused by natural ionospheric conditions or other sources of interference can therefore be important for situational awareness and operational decision-making. The objective of SWADO is to turn scientific measurements into information that can be used operationally.

Approach

The SWADO concept is based around a distributed Arctic monitoring network consisting of GNSS scintillation sensors and magnetometer stations located across Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The network monitors changes in GNSS signal quality together with geomagnetic activity, creating a broader picture of ionospheric conditions across the region. Nord Space has worked with DTU Space on developing the concept towards an operational service where scientific measurements can be transformed into accessible intelligence, including: - Real-time space-weather monitoring - Detection of ionospheric disturbances affecting GNSS - Regional alerts and warning services - Analysis supporting differentiation between space-weather effects and other GNSS disturbances - Historical datasets and API-based access for additional applications The longer-term concept is to combine the sensor infrastructure with data analytics and forecasting capabilities to provide users with earlier awareness of conditions that could affect GNSS-dependent operations.

Outcome

SWADO establishes the foundation for an Arctic space-weather intelligence capability connecting scientific research with operational defence requirements. The project demonstrates how existing scientific expertise and distributed sensor infrastructure can be developed into a persistent monitoring and decision-support service for organisations operating in the Arctic. For Defence, the capability can contribute to improved understanding of GNSS availability and resilience in a strategically important region. At the same time, the underlying data has potential applications within aviation, maritime operations, satellite services, research and other GNSS-dependent industries. Nord Space's role is focused on helping bridge the gap between scientific capability and an operational, scalable service - creating a platform that can ultimately serve both strategic users and wider commercial applications.

Capabilities applied